By Arturo Garcia, October 21, 2025
When Cal Poly Pomona alumna and distance runner Paige Moore entered her first ever marathon Oct. 5, she just wanted to finish in three hours, but she won the 41st annual 2XU Long Beach Marathon with a time of 2 hours and 55 minutes.
“Everyone was very excited to speak to me, and I just felt like a celebrity, which was really weird because I’m not used to feeling that way,” Moore said
Moore was a part of CPP’s women’s cross-country and track and field team from 2021-2025. She earned CCAA Spring Academic Honor Roll and 2024-2025 CCAA All-Academic during her senior year.
Moore was not recruited straight out of high school, but that did not stop her from working on her craft.
“We had practice at 7 a.m. every day out at the athletic fields and we would see this red head girl running around on her own almost every morning,” said track and field and cross-country head coach Chris Bradford. “We would just kind of, take note of her and obviously down the road, it was pretty awesome to have her to join our program and become an all-conference performer for us. Those things don’t happen pretty often.”
Bradford learned about Moore’s marathon win from her teammates, but he wasn’t surprised. He said what Moore does to prepare takes a special kind of person, as she would run 75-100 miles per week. Bradford had high praises for the amount of hard work that Moore did at CPP and at a post collegiate level.
“We are all really proud of her for winning that marathon,” said CPP distance runner Chloe Alchin. “That is not a small accomplishment.”
Alchin recalled when she was worrying about little things during a conference meet last year; Moore gave her advice that stuck to her.
“She told me to not think about it and just run,” Alchin said. “Paige’s advice to stop focusing on things I can’t control and just run was really helpful.”
Alchin added how grateful she was to have gotten to know Moore and be able to run with her.
“That makes me really miss Paige,” Alchin said. “She was always happy and always there for me and for everyone else, no matter what we were going through.”
The feeling is mutual, as Moore said her teammates are also some of her biggest inspirations. Moore said her teammates inspired her, gave good advice and were always together.
Moore was interested in other sports too, like basketball and soccer, but her other inspiration, her mom, got her into running.
She said the marathon win felt good but was not expecting to take home the victory for her first marathon. She also plans to eventually join 5K and 10K races. However, she wants to work on her speed while having fun before taking them on.
For any Bronco wanting to succeed in their sport, Moore recommends being consistent and enjoying it.
“There are going to be times where you don’t feel like doing it, but you know once you get out there, it’s worth it,” Moore said. “Do whatever makes you feel happy and strong, fulfilled. You don’t have to be the best.”
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics
